Leave a treat for EliseNicknames:Elise is a pseudonym, but it's what I call her at home. Her nickname is Motorboat because she has such a loud purr. Her pedigreed name is the pseudonym of one of the Bronte Sisters. Have fun figuring it out.Kitty Complexion:

Activeness

sleepy

very active

Intelligence

silly

genius

Curiosity

not curious

very curious

Friendliness

timid

affectionate

Vocal

not vocal

very vocal

Sun Sign:

Quick Bio:

-purebred

Coloration:Brown TabbyLikes:Purring. Playing with wand toys. Tearing around the apartment with her buddies, Currier and Chibi.Pet-Peeves:She seems to be almost preternaturally well-balanced for a cat.Favorite Toy:Anything.Favorite Nap Spot:Preferably in the same room that Mommy is in.Favorite Food:Anything.Skills:Looking like a future mother of Grand Champions.Dwells:
indoors Arrival Story:My breeder (Breeder Daddy) is retiring and closing up his cattery. He is in the process of rehoming all of his cats. He offered me Elise for free. Since I live in an apartment with 5 permanent cats and 10 kittens, another cat is not what I needed, especially considering that I also inherited his stud cat, Umesaburo. But my breeder has been in the Maine Coon world for more than a decade, and assured me that she was a much better specimen of the breed than my current queens. The photo, by the way, is the one he used for advertising her on the Internet. Update: Actually, Elise and Umesaburo were meant as engagement gifts. But the wedding was called off (by me--whew!) and Breeder Daddy made me pay through the nose for them. But it was worth it.Bio:Elise, as you can tell from her picture, is a very pretty girl, and also has a very sweet personality. Her father is Umesaburo, and her mother is a different cat from the mothers of my other queens, so she is half-sister to Currier, and Chibi and Leila's children. Her good points: erect ears that are correctly spaced; pretty eyes and a sweet expression; a well-developed muzzle for a female; sturdy bone structure; and beautiful classic tabby markings (more photos to follow). Best of all, she purrs when she sees me, and raises her back end when I stroke her--signs of an affectionate cat. When you're a breeder, a cat who conforms to breed standards is a must, but a cat with a pleasant personality will please judges in cat shows, and, more than that, produce kittens who will most likely inherit the mother's personality (although it's said that the father's influence is stronger). Elise is not only the most consistently friendly of my cats, but she's the first MC I've acquired who is what would be considered "show quality." Elise is a brown tabby and white, the most common Maine Coon color, and the most popular (in Japan, at least). Her mother was a brown patched tabby (brown and white tabby with red spots mixed in), and patched tabbies are very popular as well. I'm not really up on my cat color genetics yet, but depending on who she is mated with, she may produce patched tabbies as well. In any event, she won't become a mother until more than a year from now, so that's all in the future. Yes, I'm turning into a cat lady, but somehow everyone seems to get along--most of the time. Update--as of January 2010, it seems that Elise got the six winners' ribbons necessary to go from "Open" to "Champion" (if this is confusing, go the Cat Fanciers's Association web site, and you will be doubly confused). I was coerced into showing her at two more shows this spring. She is the best cat I have, but Maine Coon females are always at a disadvantage because they are smaller than the males. In retrospect, I should have chosen a breed that didn't involve sexual discrimination. The cat world can be fun or harsh, depending on your cat and the judge. It's a miracle that Harvey, with all his faults, became a Regional Winner. Update: Elise became a Champion in January 2010. I have some stunning photos by Chanan that show that she is Grand Champion material--enjoy!Lives Remaining:9 of 9Forums Motto:Future mother of Grand Champions!

Furry Elise

Yes, I know that cat diaries are supposed to be in the voice of the cat, but I don't quite understand Elise well enough to have found a "voice" for her. So I will take over.

If you've read her biography, you know all the salient details, but I would like to take this opportunity to write about why Elise is Grand Champion material. First, she is intact (spays and neuters compete in the Premiership Class). But as you can see from Chanan's photos, she is playful and alert--an important aspect. Her ears are erect and spaced exactly one ear width from each other. Her eyes are wide set and oblique. She has a good muzzle for a female. She also has what is called a "working cat" build--sturdy bone structure, legs that are not too long, although she also has the long torso sought after by MC breeders. Her fur matches the "silky but shaggy" breed standard for MCs. Furthermore, she has a beautiful classic tabby pattern (whirls, not stripes). Pattern is not as important in MCs as in, say, American Shorthairs, but a beautiful coat is never a minus. Her tail is much fluffier than that of any of my other cats (although I'm afraid that if I breed her, she'll lose it). If you look at her profile shots, you can see a marked dip in her profile--a more prominent dip would be better, but she beats out all my other cats. (Yes, the cat fancy is very esoteric; Russian Blues should have straight profiles, as should Norwegian Forest Cats, but MCs need that "scoop" to their profile). I would say that she has the potential to become a Grand Champion herself, EXCEPT that brown tabby-whites are the most common coloration among MCs, which means competition with males, who usually win just by being bigger (sexist, sexist). Unfortunately, making Harvey a Regional Winner just about broke me, so I'm not sure what I'll do with Elise, but she's going to another cat show at the end of February. In any event, if you want to see what a purebred MC should look like, Harvey isn't bad, but Leila has too many faults for Japanese judges (despite the fact that she's a beautiful cat), and Chibi is actually rather weird looking. To be honest, if I were on the Answers Board and someone asked, about Leila and Chibi, whether they are MCs, I'd probably hem and haw. Elise is a very good example of what a purebred MC should look like.

But...there's a husband and wife team of judges who have been very supportive of me, and they criticized Elise's grooming at that show, although I think she looks pretty good in the photos. Well, that time I had serious puncture wounds from Currier and Elise (who has lovely fur aside from a tendency to develop Klingons), and she didn't get the intense grooming that Harvey used to. It didn't really matter, since she was entered as an Open, and made Champion with no trouble (not as difficult as it sounds). Will we have the physical and mental stamina to continue show biz? Will I have the economic resources? Stay tuned. But this is my first really good cat, and although I ended up not marrying Breeder Daddy, he knew enough about MCs to recommend her to me, for which I am thankful. Now, if only we could get rid of those petrified Klingons...